From the end of12nd century to the beginning of13rd century, Genghis Khan established a unique cavalry unit among the Mongolian people in northern China, which was maintained by his successors. This Mongolian cavalry got rid of the shackles of traditional European military thinking and established an unprecedented world empire. The establishment of this army should be attributed to Bater's son Temujin.
1206, Mongolian tribal leaders respectfully called him Genghis Khan, which means extraordinary leader. It was he who built a country divided into many tribes by jealousy and years of war into an invincible military organization. 12 1 1 year, after the unification of most parts of Mongolia, China began to be unified. Within five years, the Mongols quickly occupied North China and North Korea, and they wantonly burned and looted cities and villages. At this time, Genghis Khan found that cavalry alone could not capture a city with high walls, so he learned from China craftsmen how to make siege machinery and used slingshots and crossbows.
Finally, Genghis Khan realized that it would take a long time to unify a vast area like China. At this time, he learned that there was unrest in Mongolia and had to leave a small amount of troops and return to Mongolia. Later, he led an army to attack the Persian empire of the thorn submodule and made it surrender on 122 1. Then he continued to lead the army to the south, west and east, sweeping across Asia, destroying a large number of towns, brutally slaughtering people who were worthless to the Mongols and ravaging the region. Then the Mongolian army set out from Persia and advanced to the northwest. After extensive reconnaissance, Subutai and General Zhe Bie led an army of about 20,000 people across the Caucasus into Russia, and sent scouts to inspect the terrain. 1223, the Mongols defeated an army composed of Russians and Kumans on the banks of the calka River (the Kumans fled before the Mongols crossed the Caucasus), then met and defeated the Bulgarian army in the Kama River basin, and then returned to the East. The descendants of Genghis Khan made a detailed battle plan for conquering Europe fifteen years later based on a large amount of information collected during this expedition.
The basis of Mongolian army's combat victory is not quantity, but quality. The single and concise organizational system is the remarkable feature of its army. The standard Mongolian field force consists of three cavalry columns. Each column has 10,000 cavalry, which is roughly equivalent to a modern cavalry division. Each cavalry column includes ten cavalry regiments, each regiment 1000 people; Each cavalry regiment includes 10 cavalry company, and each cavalry company has 100 people; Each cavalry company includes ten cavalry classes, each class 10. All cavalry usually fight on horseback, but if many horses collapse, some soldiers have to stand behind the horses and shoot arrows under the cover of cavalry.
The Mongols didn't make any major reforms in weapons, but made some innovations in the use of weapons at that time.
About 40% of the typical Mongolian army is heavy cavalry engaged in assault operations. They all wear armor, usually made of leather, or locked armor handed over by the enemy. They wore simple helmets that were usually used by soldiers in China and Byzantium at that time. Horses ridden by heavy cavalry are usually covered with a small amount of leather armor. The main weapon of heavy cavalry is pike, and each soldier also carries a short machete or mace, which is hung around his waist or put on a saddle.
Sixty percent of the Mongolian army is light cavalry. They don't wear armor except helmets. The task of light cavalry is reconnaissance, cover, provide fire support for heavy cavalry, destroy the residual enemy and follow up. The main weapon of the light cavalry is the bow. This is a very big bow, which requires at least 166 pounds of tension, which is heavier than the English longbow and can shoot from 200 to 300 yards. They carry two kinds of arrows, one is lighter, and the arrow is small and sharp, which is used for long-range shooting; The other is heavier, with large and wide arrows, and is used in close combat. Like heavy cavalry, they also have a heavy machete or mace, or lasso, and sometimes they carry javelin or pike with hooks on their heads.
Mongolian soldiers should wear silk robes before the battle begins. This kind of silk is made of raw silk and is very finely woven. Genghis Khan found it difficult for arrows to penetrate this silk dress, only arrows and cloth were inserted into the wound. Therefore, the China surgeon recruited by Net Army can pull the arrow out of the wound as long as the silk is pulled out.
In order to ensure and strengthen the mobility of cavalry, each Mongolian cavalry has one or several spare horses. These horses follow closely behind the troops and can be replaced at any time during marching or even fighting. Changing horses is carried out by relay, which can ensure safety and has the least influence on completing the scheduled task.
Mongolian cavalry were selected from the best trained soldiers at that time. Since the age of three or four, they have been sent to schools in the Gobi Desert to receive strict training in riding and archery, so they have amazing skills in riding and using weapons. For example, he can turn around and shoot the enemy behind him when he retreats quickly. They can bear hardships, endure bad weather conditions, and don't covet comfort and food. They are physically strong, and they can keep healthy and meet the needs of fighting with little or no medical care. It is their bounden duty to obey orders at any time, and everyone can strictly abide by them. Discipline has formed a system that has never been heard of anywhere else in the Middle Ages.
The horses used by the cavalry have also undergone extremely strict training. Unlike European horses, Mongolian horses live in the wild regardless of the severe winter and heat. If necessary, they can walk without eating anything for several days. In a word, they have strong endurance. They can cross almost incredible distances and cross the most dangerous areas in a very short time. For example, 124 1 year, it took Subutai's advance troops only three days to cross the Carpathian Mountains from the ruska Pass and reach the vicinity of Glen in the Danube River basin, with a journey of 180 Li. Most of the roads were covered with deep snow, and they were marching on enemy land.
At the beginning of the battle, Mongolian cavalry columns usually spread out in extremely wide positions and rushed forward at high speed. The news was transmitted between the main forces by messengers. After discovering the enemy, all nearby troops took this as the goal to carry out a surprise attack. At this time, all the information about the enemy's position, strength, direction of movement, etc. was sent to the general command, and then transmitted to the field troops. If there are not many enemies, the nearest commander will immediately lead the troops to fight. If the enemy is too big to eat all at once, then the main force of the Mongolian army will quickly gather behind the cavalry cover troops, and then advance at a high speed, and disperse the enemy before the enemy can gather troops.
Genghis Khan and his capable subordinate generals never followed the old rules in their fighting methods. If the exact position of the enemy has been found, they will lead the main force to attack the enemy's back or flank. Sometimes they pretend to retreat and then charge again after replacing the new horse.
The most commonly used combat method of Mongolian army is to arrange the troops into many roughly parallel columns under the cover of light cavalry and advance with a broad front. When the first column meets the enemy's main force, according to the situation, it will either stop moving forward or retreat slightly, and the other columns will continue to move forward and occupy the border and the enemy's rear areas. In this way, the enemy is often forced to retreat to protect its communication lines, and the Mongolian army takes the opportunity to approach the enemy and confuse it when retreating. Finally, the enemy was completely surrounded and wiped out.
The standard Mongolian combat formation consists of five horizontal teams. Each team forms a row. There is a big gap between the two teams. The first two teams are heavy cavalry, and the other three teams are light cavalry. In front of these five horizontal teams, there are also some light cavalry units responsible for reconnaissance and cover. When the opposite troops are getting closer, the three rows of light cavalry in the back will push forward through the gap between the first two rows of heavy cavalry, and after careful aiming, they will project destructive javelins and poisonous arrows at the enemy. Then, while still keeping the formation neat, the first two columns of heavy cavalry retreat first, and then the light cavalry retreat in turn. No matter how strong the enemy's front is, it will be shaken by this prepared and intensive indiscriminate arrow attack. Sometimes this kind of harassment can make the enemy break up, and there is no need to rush. If the column commander thinks that the preparatory attack has completely disintegrated the enemy, he will order the light cavalry to retreat. But if necessary, he ordered the heavy cavalry to charge. Use signals and pennants during the day and lights or firelights at night. In the battle, the cavalry company got close together. But if the troops in the middle have exchanged fire with the enemy, then the troops in the two wings will spread out to the flank and go around to the sides and back of the enemy. In this circuitous movement, smoke and dust are often used to confuse the enemy, or the cover of hillsides and valleys is used. After the encirclement of the enemy was completed, various ministries launched attacks from all directions, causing great confusion of the enemy team and finally completely defeating the enemy. This encirclement movement is a common operational method of Mongolian army, and they are especially good at using strategies to implement this method.
Mongolians like to fight in winter, and the frozen swamp rivers greatly improve their mobility. In order to determine when the ice on the river can bear the weight of horses, they often drive with local people to check the ice for them. Hungary 124 1 At the end of the year, they left unattended cattle on the east bank of the Danube and watched the refugees they drove to the other side starve at the beginning of that year. When the Hungarians crossed the river and brought back the cattle, the Mongolian army decided to move on.
Mongolian army leaders often like to send an advance team to meet the enemy first, and then retreat after the battle to lure the enemy to follow. It may take several days to retreat, and finally the enemy found himself trapped by the Mongols and surrounded by the ambush of Mongolian cavalry.
In the early days of Genghis Khan's expedition to China, his cavalry troops were often helpless in front of the tall walls of China. After in-depth and meticulous analysis and research, and at the same time using weapons, equipment and technology from southern China, within a few years, the generals of the Inner Mongolia Army have created a set of operational systems that can capture seemingly impenetrable Yugoslav defense facilities. An important part of this system is a well-equipped siege force and a group of the best engineers, who were recruited by the Mongolian army to serve as soldiers of the siege force.
In the later battles of Genghis Khan and his right-hand man Subutai, no Yugoslav capital fortress could stop the March of the Mongolian army. For heavily guarded cities, Mongols often besiege them with columns and send some or all engineering teams to assist them. The main force is still advancing. Because Mongols often rush into enemy cities with clever strategies and bold actions, the leading light cavalry always rushes into the city before the other side has time to close the city gate. If the enemy is fully alert in advance, so that the Mongolian army can't rush in, then the besieged columns and engineers will quickly and effectively carry out conventional siege warfare, and the main force of the Mongolian army will try its best to find the other side's field main force to fight. Once victory is in hand, besieged cities often surrender without a fight. In this case, urban people can often suffer less disasters.
However, if the defenders dare to openly resist, Genghis Khan's engineers will soon open a gap in the wall, or quickly prepare for the column cavalry without riding a horse to attack the city. In order to cause confusion among the troops guarding the city and increase the difficulty of defense, Mongols sent light cavalry to attack in front of the city wall before the attack, and fired burning arrows, which made the besieged military camp or city burn into a sea of fire. When they are ready to launch the final attack through the gap in the wall or over the fortifications, they often adopt a cruel but very successful method. They let a large group of prisoners walk in front, followed by cavalry on foot. In this way, if the garrison wants to beat them, it will kill the compatriots first.
Through strict military training and discipline, Mongols established an army with bows and arrows as weapons and cavalry as the basis. The practice of war has proved that this is an invincible army. They deeply understand and make full use of the principles of surprise attack and flexible operations, and at the same time adopt psychological warfare means of outwitting and making money. /kloc-in the third century, the enemies they met in Europe were very clumsy and lacked mobility, and they could not cope with the highly mobile Mongolian army riding wild horses at all. If sufficient and reliable data can be obtained, there is no doubt that the casualty ratio between the European army and the Mongolian army is among the best, if not the highest in history. Mongolia's war of aggression killed and injured a large number of soldiers and civilians, which had a huge and long-term adverse impact on the social and economic life of the invaded country. Regrettably, the European army, which could not resist the Mongolian aggression for a long time, not only failed to learn how to deal with the Mongolian army, but also did not learn much useful things at all. The short-term invasion of the Carpathian Mountains by Mongols did not have any direct impact on the military tactics and traditional tactics of Central and Western European countries.
But the Russians benefited a lot from the theory and tactics of Mongolian cavalry fighting. Hugh Cole, a famous military historian, said in a recent letter to me: "In the Carpathian Battle of 19 14, the tactics adopted by the Russian light cavalry were modeled after those of the Mongolian army."
Today, we can still feel the far-reaching influence of the Mongols on our army today, and the west is conducting extensive research on Mongolian war cases, tactics and military technology. Hugh Cole further wrote in the book: "liddell hart took the Mongolian army as an example to persuade people to apply cavalry combat methods to tanks. Please also note that in an annual report, MacArthur, the chief of staff of the US military, urged Congress to learn from the experience and lessons of the Mongolian army and approve his proposal for funding the mechanization of the US military. "